With the chance of a severe thunderstorm, authorities decided to evacuate the Esplanade around 9:30 p.m. and told the crowd of thousands to take shelter in the Storrow Drive tunnels.

Boston police commissioner Ed Davis said it went “very, very well.”

“I was at the corner of Charles and Beacon Street. There were large numbers of people moving out, but everybody was very cooperative and actually, in a very good humor too. People were taking it very well,” Davis told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Thursday.

“We’ve also had these plans for some time for sheltering in place in the tunnels and also in the parking garage under the Boston Common,” he said.

“Once the weather made it clear to us that it was a dangerous situation, we put the plan into operation and it went very, very well.”

However, some complained to WBZ-TV that they went home during the delay because police told them the show would be canceled.

After the 25-minute delay, the crowd returned and the performance went on with the fireworks, but the 1812 Overture was cancelled.